Catch Me If You Can
by Momo Cicerone
Summary: 'Call me when you are wearing less.' She told him. Well, she didn't think he was going to take it THAT literally. Fun and fluffy [Edo Gruvia]. Rated T for *a lot of* bad language.


**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the plot.

**Summary: **'Call me when you are wearing less.' She told him. Well, she didn't think he was going to take it THAT literally. Fun and fluffy [Edo Gruvia].** Rated T for *a lot of* bad language.**

**A/N: **This fic is dedicated to every single person who reviewed/favorited _Wife Material, _you guys gave me a huge confidence boost and inspired me to keep writing Gruvia fics! At the beginning I was like_ 'Oh, man… this shit is so random and short, no one's gonna review it' _THANKS FOR PROVING ME WRONG! You made this happen!

This turned out to be A LOT longer (and fluffier) than I expected.

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**Catch Me If You Can**

_By Momo Cicerone_

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Juvia stopped in a halt when she reached the entrance of the training pool.

Either she was having a really weird wet –like, literally wet—dream or Gray surge was actually standing half naked by the poolside. And it wasn't just the vision of him there, or the fact that he was wearing less than 10 pounds of clothing what startled her. It was the sight of his chiseled physique what left her chin-dropped and with a million questions running through her head.

Since when did he had such broad shoulders? Where the hell did those biceps come from? How the hell did he get a six pack _overnight_? And if he'd been like this all along, why the hell did he hide it under those many layers of hideous clothing? Didn't his mama ever teach him the importance of sharing?

"J-Juvia-chan!" He called her, and she had half a second to close her mouth and save herself from the embarrassment of having him see her drooling. _Over him_.

"Gray? What are you doing here?"

"I came to help you in your mission!" He said in an exited tone.

'_Call me when you are wearing less.'_ She'd told him. Well, she didn't think he was going to take it _that_ literally.

"Stupid. I don't need your help."

"But Juvia-chan… you're afraid of water."

"That's none of your business!" She snapped at him..

But he was right. She was absolutely terrified of water. She couldn't swim 10 yards to save her life.

And she accepted the job nevertheless. _What a fool_. Just because Levy was being a troll and teased her endlessly about it.

'Swimming coach for the weekend.' It didn't sound that terrifying by then. Of course she could do it. Sure. As long as she didn't drown herself first.

"But I—"

"Kyaaahh! Are you our new coach?" a shrieking voice called, and they both turned to see a group of 5 bikini suited up girls walking towards them.

"You're so cute!" Said one of them, her face only two inches apart from Gray's.

"And hot!" The blond one commented, looking at him with luscious eyes.

"Hey, I saw him first!" The youngest of them, a petite brunette clung to his arm.

"_I_ sent the request, it was _my_ idea!" The short haired girl with glasses argued.

"What's your name? Do you have a girlfriend?" Inquired the first girl, a curvaceous ginger with freckles.

"Huh—"Gray cringed. "I-I'm Gray. And this is Ju—"

"Let's go in the water, Gray-kun!" The petite girl called and physically dragged him into the pool. They fell into the water with a load splash and the rest of the girls followed, a few of them complaining.

Juvia stood sweat dropping by the pool. She always wondered if this Gray had the same physique as Earthland Gray. Now she didn't need to wonder anymore. If she thought shirtless Earth Gray was eye candy, then_ this _Gray_,_ in his skin tight swimming shorts and dipping water from head to toe, was just _yummy_.

And she never realized she'd been starving.

It seemed she wasn't the only one, tough. The girls were clutching to him for dear life. One of them had his arm wrapped against her breast and another one had one hand over his shoulder. All of them were looking at him with lustful eyes. She didn't blame them, tough. If she only had a clue that he was hiding an Adonis body underneath all those layers of clothing, she'd been the first to drag him to a dark alley and f—

_Holy shit,_ what the hell did just happen!? Did she just had a daydream about _him_?

She shook her head trying to shove those thoughts from her mind. She was blushing like a schoolgirl and trying to look at anywhere but his bare chest. Dammit, since when did she become a conservative prude like Canna? She might not have sexual experience, but she was no way naïve. And she had surely seen bare man chest before. What the fuck was wrong with her?

She jumped into the water to clear her mind. That was going to be a very, very long day.

* * *

Juvia sighed in relieve when the big clock hanging in the wall marked six o'clock. The day had been tortuously slow as it promised. Not that she did much coaching that day, all she managed to do was to not drown herself as she watched the girls flutter around Gray shamelessly.

"Time's up." She said. "Mission accomplished. Thanks and bye."

The girls whined and complained in unison.

"Can't you stay a little longer?"

"Oh, come on, Gray-kun, just a couple more minutes?"

"But we're having such a great time, pretty please?

Gray scratched the back of his head. "Err… I guess we could…"

"Tch. You stay all you want. I'm out of here." Juvia grunted.

"Oh, c'mon Juvia-chan, don't be a wet blanket!"

She threw him a murderous glance and got out of the pool, making her way to the locker room. He caught up with her by the hallway.

"Juvia-chan…" She heard him call. "Juvia-chan, wait!"

"What is it now?" She asked grumpily.

"I'm sorry, did I upset you?

"What do you care? You should go back, your fan club is waiting to pamper you."

An outrageous idea occurred to him. "Ju-Juvia-chan… could you possibly be… jealous?"

Jealous? Because of him? She almost laughed at the thought. That was a good one. Just because he turned out to have a Greek God body, it didn't mean she'd care that other girls were practically making eye love to him.

_Of course not. _

"Listen to me, you big dork." She said pointing an accusing finger against his bare chest. "Just because you got those stupid girls all turned on doesn't mean you can get all playboy mode with me. I'm not like them."

She turned around and strode towards the changing room, not giving him a chance to answer back.

She did, however, hear a load sneeze echo though the empty corridor.

* * *

Juvia stood frozen at the wooden door from Gray's apartment. She'd been debating with herself whether she was being overly paranoid or it was actually normal that guildmates just stepped in each other's house uninvited.

Ah, well. Every rule had its exception, so she figured dropping by to see a sick comrade would be a good reason enough. Not that she really cared, of course. Just that Mirajane had promised him that she'd send someone to check on him and make sure he was still breathing that night. The ideal thing would be to ask his dorky car-lover bff, but he was out in some shitty mission which probably required some engine repairing stuff that'd keep him busy for the weekend. And so the smiling barmaid suggested that Juvia should go (_Gee, thank you very much, Mira_).

And there was his payment thing too.

No, wait. It was his payment first, and then checking if he was alive. In that specific order.

She opened the door with the spare key that Mirajane had given her and stepped inside.

The room was dim and smelled like fabric softener (that she could guess why). The only light came from a street lamp that filtered through the window glass and casted long shadows in the carpeted floor. She spotted him easily, a curled ball made of layers of blankets sitting in a couch in the middle of the living room. She closed the door behind her and he raised his head from the blanket nest, showing a green face before turning pink with excitement.

"Ju-Juvia-chan! (Aahh-choo!)" He greeted, beaming at her. "You came!"

She rolled her eyes. "Can you stop stating the obvious? It's really annoying, you know. "

"I'm sorry." He shrinked into his blankets again.

"Stop apologizing, you clown." She hissed.

"I'm-m…" She shot him a dangerous look. "Okay." He conceded. "I'm glad you came."

"Whatever." She said mildly blushing. Jeez, why did he have to make everything feel so awkward? She was so used to turning him down that she thought she was pity-proof against him. Well, she was obviously mistaken. But was it pity what made her feel so uncomfortable? And what was to pity about him? Last time she checked, it was Narcisse at the lake and the Water Nymphs going bananas over him. He could clearly get any girl he wanted to, if he just stopped dressing up like a fucking Eskimo. It was beyond her mind why he was so infatuated with her. She'd certainly never been nice to him. And she wasn't particularly pretty, or smart, or remotely shared anything in common with him. Was he just masochist? Did he liked being treated poorly? Well if that was the case, he'd be terribly disappointed. She wasn't the dominatrix type. She was just a girl, maybe a hotheaded girl, but a normal girl nonetheless.

"I came to give you your share." She said, pulling an envelope from her bag and handing it to him.

"There's really no ne—"

"It's the guild's rule. You get in the mission, you get your share."

"But I d—"

"I'm not repeating myself."

"But—"

"Just… _take_… the fucking money." She said in a slow, dangerous tone.

"Huh— Thanks." He said accepting the envelope. "It's nice of you to come all the way for this." Gray added smiling.

"Well, Mirajane made you some chicken soup." She said holding out a food container and looking at anywhere but his face.

"That's very kind of her."

She shrugged. "You should drink it right now. It's getting cold."

He reached one shaky hand out to take the container from her. She watched him struggle with the spoon for a long couple of seconds before she fetched it from his trembling hands.

"Honestly, dude. Can't you just do one thing right?" She mumbled while scooping some soup and offering it to him.

"J-Juvia-chan!" Gray blinked in surprise, his cheeks flushing wildly. Was she really going to spoon-feed him!?

"I ain't gonna hold this shit forever." She said impatiently. No further cue was needed. Gray opened his mouth with a sound 'A-ah' and swallowed blissfully.

"I feel like I'm dreaming." He said looking at her in awe. "If I am please don't pinch me awake." He added in a rush, eyes wide open.

"You're such a fool." She half smirked despite herself.

"Juvia-chan…" He had that mesmerized look in his face. "You're smiling!"

"H-Heh!?"

"It's the first time ever that you smile at me." Gray said with a broad grin.

"Idiot!" She hurried to stuff a pillow in his face to avoid him from seeing her blush. She heard a muffled chuckle before he grabbed the pillow and clutched it against his chest, studying her face carefully. She thrust more soup into his mouth as rudely as she could, maybe hoping he would choke. Gray kept smiling anyway.

"You look so pretty when you smile, Juvia-chan." He commented accepting another mouthful.

"You should stop that, you know." She said in a serious tone.

"I know, Juvia-chan. I'll stop talking."

"Not that. Stop chasing me." She said, and for a moment she felt stupid. She was the one who came looking for him, not the other way around.

"I'm sorry, Juvia-chan. That's the one thing I cannot promise you."

"You're wasting your time here."

"Better die trying than live regretting."

"Don't wanna be a wet blanket, but that's mission impossible."

"You're still mad about that? Look, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it."

She snorted. "Chill out. I'm not that resentful."

He smiled and she finished feeding him.

"I should get going." She said as she closed the empty container and put it in her bag.

"So soon?" He asked disappointed.

"Yeah, unless you want me to help you change your diapers or something."

"You're so funny, Juvia-chan." He chuckled.

She was aiming for _mean_, but what the fuck, the man was impossible.

"If so say so…" She shrugged.

"Please thank Mirajane for the soup." He said smiling

"Yeah… sure." She mumbled.

"And.. Juvia-chan?"

She stopped at the doorway and turned to look over her shoulder. "What?"

"I'm not giving up on you. _Ever_."

She leaned in the doorframe for a second and studied his solemn expression before smirking at him. "Then catch me if you can." And she closed the door behind her.

Now, what the fuck did she just say to him?

* * *

The guild bar was empty when she arrived later that night. The chairs had been turned upside down and laid on their corresponding tables while Mirajane mopped up the floor. Juvia groaned a greeting to her friend and went to sit at the bar, folding her arms over the wooden table.

The silver haird girl approached her with a smile in her face. "So…? Did he like your soup?"

"Shhht! It is _your _soup, remember?" Juvia hushed her as she looked around frantically to make sure they were alone.

"You really told him that?"

"What do you want me to say? He might get the wrong idea. Actually I think he might already gotten a terrible idea."

"What do you mean?"

"I kinda flirted with him."

"Oh, my!" Mirajane squealed, her hands cupping her mouth. "Tell me everything!"

"I spoon-fed him. He said wouldn't stop chasing me. I practically told him to give it a try. Might have offer to help him take his pants off." She slapped her forehead and moaned. "Urgh… what the hell is wrong with me?"

Mirajane started giggling. "You're not being helpful here!" Juvia scowled at her.

"He really likes you, you know." Said Mirajane.

"And that's my problem because…?" She invited her to continue with a hand gesture.

"I think you two would make a lovely couple."

"And I think you're out of your mind." She snorted. "He's just _so_ not my type. He's way too nice. I like bad boys."

"Oh, c'mon, give him a chance! Besides you've already had your share of bad boys. It's time to move on."

"Why does he like me, anyway? It's not like I should be his type either. He should be with someone nice and gentle."

"Love is a strange and funny thing."

Juvia shot her an annoyed look. "Now you're creeping me out."

* * *

The following week, Juvia did her best to avoid meeting Gray. Even to the point that she hardly showed up in the guild anymore. She'd raise early and take any random mission from the request board, and then disappear before anybody else arrived at the guild.

Gray started to grow restless. He couldn't help feeling that he somehow freaked her out that day in his apartment. She'd basically told him to back off, and he'd simply refused to. And now she surely hated him. The mere thought of that possibility just made his heart ache.

He had to do something about it, but how to even reach her now? If she was truly avoiding him, he couldn't just show up at her mission or –God forbid—her apartment. She'd probably break his neck, and that'd probably be the only skin contact he'd ever had with her.

'_Catch me if you can_' she'd told him. Now _that_ was proving to be a hell of a challenge.

Thanks to the Gods, Mirajane had taken pity on him and tipped him off that Juvia would be back at the guild later that night. Apparently her mission ended by midnight. Still a couple of hours to go, Gray decided to kill time by drinking some beer.

He must have fallen asleep, because sometime later he felt someone shaking his shoulder. He woke up to find a very irritated Juvia staring at him.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Juvia-chan, you're back!" Gray beamed in recognition, rubbing an eye to unblur his sight.

"That's not an answer." She retorted impatiently.

"I was waiting for you. I want to talk to you."

"Well, make it fast. I'm tired."

"Please forgive me."

She sat down in the chair next to him, an exasperated look in her face.

"What on earth did you do this time?"

"I said stupid things that upset you. That's why you won't talk to me. I'm so sorry, Juvia-chan, I won't do it again."

She blinked at him and open her mouth in disbelief. "Are you..!? God, you are _so_…! I'm not mad at you, stupid! I've just been busy."

"You aren't?" He blinked back at her.

"Jeez, you're a real piece of work, aren't you?" She said closing her eyes and rubbing her temple.

"Juvia-chan…" He started tearing up. "I'm so happy."

"Yeah, great for you. Now if you're done I gotta go." She tried to stand up, but he caught her sleeve.

"No, wait!" He pleaded. "Can you stay a little longer? I'm feeling dizzy."

"How many of these did you have anyway?" She asked picking up an empty can of beer.

"Huh… I dunno… maybe ten or so?"

"Just so you know, I'm not carrying your drunk ass home. It's not my fault you're a retarded weirdo."

He chuckled and for a moment they just sat there in silence, his gaze locked in her profile as she looked at some undefined spot in the darkness. What was about this lunatic that made her feel so uneasy and sent her heart throbbing for no reason? Especially when she learned that he did idiotic things for her, like catching a cold for chasing her at the swimming pool, or getting his ass drunk while waiting_ hours _for her. It bothered her so much that it made her behave equally idiotically, like making her brew chicken soup for him and waiting by his side while he recovered from his hangover.

"Juvia-chan…"

"That's my name, yes." She said grumpily.

He leaned closer to her, and she could feel the warmth coming from his body. For some annoying reason she could not name, she was blushing again, and she mentally cursed herself for that. His cheeks were tinted with scarlet red, and he was way too close to her liking.

And he looked way too cute for her liking.

"Can I kiss you? If I do, would you hate me?"

_Yes. No._ In that order respectively.

"N-No! and yes!" She said jerking away, her heart pounding in her chest. "What kind of shitty question is that!?"

"I love you_ so_ much, Juvia-chan…" His voice was husky with emotion, his half lidded eyes locked in hers.

"You're fucking drunk." She said, trying to walk away, but he reached for her hand and held her tightly.

"Sure I am." He agreed, his face only inches away from hers. "Or I wouldn't risk doing this…"

He held the back of her neck and pressed his lips against her in a kiss. It wasn't a soft, gentle kiss as she imagined it would be coming from him. It was a hungry kiss at the edge of desperation, and he clung to her like a castaway to a piece of driftwood in the ocean. A moan escaped her mouth and his tongue slipped between her lips, stroking against her own, and she found herself returning his kiss with equal eagerness. His fingers dug into her hair as he deepen the kiss, and she was lost and found, drifting in a limbo between dream and reality.

Time went still for what felt could be either a heartbeat or an eternity, until she felt him loosen his grip on her and slowly slip down.

And then he collapsed. _Literally_.

He laid passed out on the floor, too drunk and oblivious to know that he'd just left her there breathless, heart pounding in her chest and her head spinning a thousand miles per hour.

She was _so_ going to kill him.

* * *

"I'm so screwed, man." Gray sighed to his best friend.

"What's wrong?" Natsu asked, sitting in the chair next to his whining friend.

"I got like real drunk last night. And then Juvia-chan came in. And I… I think I sorta kissed her. I dunno. She's gonna hate me forever." He buried his face in his arms.

"I'm pretty sure you were drunk and hallucinating." The pink haired man said with a wide grin.

"How do you know that?"

"'Cos she'd killed you then. And you look pretty neat to me. No bruises."

Gray considered his words before nodding in agreement. "I guess you're right."

But before they were able to say anything else, the guild's door opened and he spotted a very angry Juvia coming inside. She had a murderous look in her eyes and she was walking straight to his table.

"Oi! You!" She grunted towards him. "Gray Surge!" She grabbed him by the collar and he embraced himself for the hitting. Juvia was well known for the outstanding abilities in hand-to-hand combat. Having seen her in action, he guessed he'd probably spend the next two weeks in a recovery room at the hospital.

Much to his surprise –to everybody's surprise—she launched herself to his arms kissed him full in the lips.

And it didn't seem to matter that they were in the middle of the crowed guild, or that people started whistling and howling like a pack of mad dogs. All they could think about was their lips locked into that deep kiss

She was the one to pull away first, just as suddenly as she started. She looked at him through half-lidded eyes.

"Next time you do this and fall asleep on me, you're dead man." She threaten him, and just as sudden as she walked in, she let go of his collar and walked away swaying her hips. He collapsed in the floor, like some strange pile of laundry.

A long couple of seconds passed before the humming in his ears faded away, and the guild's usual chatter and noise came back to him. He realized someone was calling his name and turned a wonderstruck face to his talker.

"Oi, oi…! Wake up, Gray!" It was Lucy, looking at him with an exasperated expression while Natsu stood behind her chuckling and making some weird hand gesture. "What the hell are you waiting for!? Go after her!" She said with a 'duh!' face.

The raven haired boy blinked twice and then gasped in acknowledgment, trying to stand up but stumbled with his clothing. Well, maybe she was right and he needed to tune down his dressing habit a little. He rushed out of the guild like a fire bolt, his eyes searching for her slim figure.

She had kissed him! (And he was pretty sure she wasn't drunk, drugged, or cursed when she did so). She had willingly kissed him and threaten him to death afterwards.

But a sweet threat like that, he could live with.

* * *

Juvia walked aimlessly through the streets by the riverside. She was a complete mess in all senses. She just stormed into the guild and kissed Gray Surge, the guy she'd heartlessly turn down countless of times in the past. What did she hope would come out of that? Certainly not an undying love confession, that was for sure. She had enough of that crap. So to the point that she didn't believe it anymore. She was just mad, mad and extremely confused. Mad that he was_ so_ clueless. That he just _decided _it'd be okay to man up and fucking kiss her and then leave her standing there feeling like a dullard. So she thought she'd pay him back eye for eye, just to show him she was unaffected. She thought she was immune to him, that nothing he said or did would ever touch her. Only that was true until last week, and proved to be a total joke last night. And that confused her greatly.

She was such a fucking mess.

And she said _next time he kissed her, _as if there'd be a next time.

"Juvia-chan!" Someone call behind her.

_Fuck._

Well, she could either turn around and face him, or start running like a twelve year old.

"Don't talk to me." She said as she kept walking.

"But I—"

"Stop it!"

"Abou—"

"Shut the fuck up!" She snapped at him. "I don't wanna hear it. Jeez! Just back off!"

But he grabbed her hand and dragged her towards his chest in a tight embrace. "What the hell you think you're doing?" She demanded trying to jerk away.

He buried his face in her shoulder, and she went still. A jolt of electricity ran through her spine when she felt his warm breath against her skin.

"I caught you. Now I'm not letting you go."

And her stupid heart was doing that to her again, just throbbing and aching for no damn reason. Juvia bit her lower lip and side glanced at him. She realized he was wearing just a shirt. "What happened to your clothes?"

He didn't raise his head to meet her gaze, so the words came a little muffled from her shoulder. "Gone. Can't chase you if I keep tripping over them."

She pursed her lips to keep them from smiling. "Are you seriously shaking? We're in mid-June, you know."

"I'm okay. You keep me warm, Juvia-chan."

A chuckle escaped her lips as she buried her face in his chest. "You're such a dork."

But she just happened to find him adorkable in so many ways.

_**Fin**_.

* * *

**A/N: Updated Jun-20**

1. This is an one-shot. Finished. That's it! If you wanna read more please follow me as an author, don't follow this story.

2. I might start writing Edo Gruvia drabbles, mostly about their relationship as a dating couple. Because I just can't get enough of them!

3. Writing this fic just fucked my life because now I feel like I ship Edo Gruvia more than I ship Earth Gruvia. I scratched that part because some people were asking if my ship sank. My answer is **NO**. Yes, I still ship Earth Gruvia, Yes, I will keep writing Earth Gruvia stuff. I just need a couple of days off 'cos this fic just drained all of me. Like seriously this is the longest one-shot I ever wrote.

4. Liked it? Hated it? Want to know more? Your _reviews_ will be enormously appreciated!


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